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Santo
in
The Diabolical Axe
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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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5
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date: Oct.
28, 2003 |
This
black and white Santo adventure isn't quite as
enjoyably goofy as most of the other titles recently
brought to DVD by Rise Above Entertainment, but
fans of El Enmascarado de Plata will definitely
want to check it out. In Santo
en el Hacha Diabólica (Santo
in "The Diabolical Axe"), the wrestling superhero
not only faces a most unusual villain but has
his origin explained as well. Finally, the question
"Where did Santo come from?" (at least the luchadore's
movie incarnation) is answered. Turns out he's
the Mexican version of America's purple-suited
crimefighter The Phantom, inheriting the superhero
mantle down through the ages. And did you know
that Santo's wrestling costume has magical
properties?
Deviation from the typical Santo formula is
evident right from the beginning. The film opens
in the year 1603 — when the body of El Santo is
being laid to rest in a crypt! Yes, Santo is dead.
He's being buried at a monastery by the monks
he lived with, who solemnly commemorate the passing
of Justice's Champion. Apparently Santo died pining
away for his lost love, Doña Isabel, who
disappeared years earlier when kidnapped by an
evildoer known as the Black Mask. Once the service
ends and the monks depart Black Mask himself (Fernando
Osés) appears in the crypt, wielding his
trademark axe and swearing vengeance on Santo's
descendants throughout the centuries to come.
The original Santo may
have died mourning the loss of his beloved but
apparently that didn't prevent him from starting
a family at some point. Flash forward to Mexico
City in the 1960s, where his descendant is engaged
in a professional wrestling bout. The modern Santo
is winning the match handily when suddenly the
Black Mask teleports into the ring and tries to
kill him! Skillfully dodging the villain's whirling
blade, Santo gains the upper hand and manages
to disarm him as the crowd panics. Cops enter
the ring, guns blazing, but their bullets have
no effect on the would-be assassin. Then, in the
blink of an eye, he and his weapon just as mysteriously
vanish. Santo is relaxing at home when
Black Mask strikes again. He pops out of thin
air to hurl his axe at Santo but misses. (The
bad guy proves a tough opponent as a grappler
but can't hit the broad side of a barn when throwing
his weapon.) He again vanishes but this time the
axe stays behind. Santo takes the blade to an
academic friend, Prof. Zanoni (Mario Sevilla),
to get answers. He's also worried that his girlfriend
Alicia (Bety González) may be endangered
by this supernatural menace. Zanoni determines
that the axe was made in the 1600s.
Conveniently the professor has in his lab
a machine which allows a person's spirit to travel
backwards in time, a sort of mechanically-assisted
form of 'retro-reincarnation'. (All you need,
it seems, are a few blinking lights and some sort
of revolving gizmo.) Santo uses the device to
go back in time via the experiences of his ancestor,
the 'original' Santo we saw being buried in the
film's opening frames. He discovers that his namesake,
before donning the silver mask, tights and glittery
cape, was an admired gentleman of means and an
expert swordsman. The insanely jealous Black Mask,
spurned by Doña Isabel (Mexi-film favorite
Lorena Velázquez) and bested by Santo in
a duel, was determined to take vengeance on the
lovers. He made a pact with the bat-demon Ariman,
granting him vast wealth and supernatural power
in exchange for his service. He kidnapped Isabel
and chained her in his hidden dungeon. Unable
to find his betrothed, Santo turned to the wizard
Abraca (also played by Sevilla) for advice. Abraca
wasn't able to help with the Isabel thing but
he did gift Santo with his signature wrestling
costume — the silver mask, symbolizing the purity
of Good, has a magical quality which provides
the wearer bursts of energy and strength when
his own powers reach their lowest ebb. Oddly enough,
it didn't do the first Santo much good. The Black
Mask was eventually defeated by Santo and turned
over to the Inquisition but Isabel was never found.
Sentenced to be burned at the stake, the unrepentant
villain refused to disclose her whereabouts even
as the brands were being lit. With a haughty laugh
he promised to one day take his vengeance on Santo,
then turned into a bat and flew away, escaping
the flames! Returning to the present day, Santo
knows he must beware that oath of vengeance and
be on his guard at all times. The Black Mask can
appear anywhere, at any moment, to attack him.
The only way to defeat him, Prof. Zanoni explains,
is to remove his mask — after which he'll lose
his power and disintegrate. (It would've helped
if the Inquisition had known this; they never
bothered to remove it during the trial.)
Santo en el Hacha Diabólica
is rather bizarre for a Santo movie, at least
in comparison to the six I've seen previously.
The villain has no gang of henchmen assisting
him and can pop up literally out of nowhere (and
does), so Santo has to stay on his toes. A friendly
ghost visits Santo to give him aid. Almost half
the film takes place in the 17th Century and there's
nearly as much swordfighting as there is wrestling.
(In the scenes featuring the first Santo before
he dons his signature costume, the actor's face
still remains obscured.) The two wrestling matches
we do see aren't just filler but are actually
incorporated into the plot. Most of the padding
comes when Black Mask is shown making his pact
with Ariman; the camera roams back and forth over
the bat-demon's statue again and again (and again!),
then repeats the process a few more times for
good measure. The sets and special effects are
really, really cheap even by Santo standards...
Having experienced literally hundreds of cheesy
horror/sci-fi pics in my time I'd thought I'd
seen it all as far as rubber bats and unconvincing
cave sets go, but this film easily takes the prize
in both categories. The wizard Abraca makes his
home in the crappiest-looking cave set in movie
history — it's just badly painted plywood, like
something out of an elementary school play. (Yes,
even the ones in Eegah
And Death Curse of Tartu
are substantially better.) As for the bats, well...
seeing is believing.
Unless you're a diehard Santo fan like me
I'd probably stay clear of this one, or at least
not have it serve as your introduction to the
character.
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Like
the other Santo DVDs from Rise Above Entertainment,
Diabolical Axe is
presented fullframe and in the original Spanish
with English subtitles. The print exhibits slight
to moderate damage throughout but is significantly
better looking than the 16mm dupes used for the
now-OOP Santo discs released by Beverly Wilshire
Filmworks. Despite the packaging's claim of a
96-minute running time the film clocks in at only
74. (The last quarter-hour of the pic is very
choppy, as if it's missing footage.) Audio
quality is a mixed bag, as some of the music sounds
warbly and distorted while dialog is clear; sound
effects (footsteps, clanking jewelry, etc.) are
amazingly crisp at times, which leads me to think
they were recreated for the DVD.
Aside from an image gallery particular to
this movie (only one poster, the rest are screen
captures), the extras included are identical to
those found on the other Rise Above-Santo offerings:
a short compilation clip, The Best Of Santo,
and the same two trailers. This time, however,
Rise Above has added two newly created promos
to the mix, for Santo
vs. Frankenstein's Daughter and Santo
& Blue Demon vs. Dracula & the Wolf Man.
In-depth liner notes are again provided by Mexi-film
scholar David Wilt.
8/19/03
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